The present invention relates to a leash suitable for use in securing a surf craft to a limb of a person for the purpose of avoiding loss of the surf craft in the event of the person falling from the craft or otherwise being separated from it.
The use of leashes by surfers to tie their surfboard or body board to either their ankle or wrist is well known. Such leashes comprise a strap and an elongate cord that is generally formed from an elastic material such as polyurethane. The cord is attached to the strap so as to extend rearwardly therefrom and trail behind the limb of the surfer in use.
However, due to its flexible nature the cord may float around the limb of the surfer while he or she is waiting for a wave and so be tangled with the limb when the surfer attempts to catch the wave. This is highly undesirable as it may result in the surfer missing the wave or alternatively, inhibit the movement of the surfer during the ride.
In light of this, a leash with a cord coiled in the form of a spring has been provided. In this instance, the cord is again attached to the rear of the strap so as to trail behind the limb to which the strap is attached. While this arrangement reduces the free movement of the cord in the water it nevertheless is still able to gather closely around the limb and so the possibility of being caught by the limb remains.
A retractable leash has also been proposed in Australian patent application 82070/91. That leash comprises a strap carrying a reel about which the cord is wrapped. A coil spring associated with the reel acts to cause the reel to rotate when there is slack in the cord so that the slack is thereby wound onto the reel. While the arrangement reduces the free movement of the cord in the water it is prone to failure due to its reliance on the movement of mechanical parts. The straps of prior art leashes may also slip about the surfer""s limb which exacerbates the problem of entanglement with the cord and requires the surfer to frequently readjust the position of the strap.
It is an aim of the present invention to address one or more problems of the prior art.
In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a leash for securing a surf craft to a limb of a person, the leash comprising:
a strap with an inner face and an opposite outer face, and which is adapted for being fastened around the limb; and
a cord with a proximal end region attached to the strap, and an opposite distal end region for attachment to the surf craft;
wherein the proximal end region of the cord is maintained in a biased position so as to be biased to one side of the limb from a position trailing behind the limb, when the strap is fastened around the limb such that the inner face of the strap is pressed against said limb.
Generally, the strap will receive the cord and be adapted to hold the cord in the biased position. Alternatively, the proximal end region of the cord may be adapted so as to cause the cord to be biased to the one side of the limb.
In another aspect of the invention there is provided a cord for a leash that is suitable for securing a surf craft to a limb of a person, wherein the leash includes a strap adapted for being fastened around the limb and having an inner face and an opposite outer face, and the cord has a distal end region for attachment to the surf craft and a proximal end region for attachment to the strap, the proximal end region of the cord being adapted to cause the cord to be biased from a position trailing behind the limb to one side of said limb, when the proximal end region of the cord is attached to the strap and when the strap is fastened around the limb so that the inner face thereof is pressed against said limb.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a strap for attachment to a cord for securing a surf craft to a limb of a person, wherein the strap is adapted for being fastened around the limb and has an outer face and an opposite inner face, and is further adapted to receive an end region of the cord such that the cord is thereby biased from a position trailing the limb to one side of the limb, when the strap is fastened around the limb such that the inner face of the strap is pressed against said limb.
Accordingly, the strap can be fastened around the limb such that the cord is biased to the side of the limb away from the direction of travel in which the limb is moved when the surfer assumes his or her paddling or normal riding position. This inhibits the cord from gathering around the limb while the surfer waits to catch a wave and as such, the possibility of the cord becoming caught around or under the surfers limb is thereby reduced.
The side of the limb to which the cord is biased can be altered by simply rotating the strap about the cord through 180xc2x0 prior to fastening the strap to the limb. This allows a single leash of the invention to be used by a surfer irrespective of whether the leash is attached to a right or left limb when in his or her normal riding position. Accordingly, the invention provides a simple and relatively inexpensive way of dealing with the problem of cord entanglement around the limb.
In still another aspect of the invention there is provided a leash for securing a surf craft to a limb of a person, and comprising:
a strap with an inner face and an opposite outer face, and being adapted to be fastened around the limb; and
a cord with a proximal end region attached to the strap and a distal end region for attachment to the surf craft;
wherein the inner face of the strap is shaped to substantially correspond to the contour of a region of the limb to thereby inhibit the strap from rotation about the limb, when the strap is fastened around said region of the limb such that the inner face of the strap is pressed against said limb.
In a yet further aspect of the invention there is provided strap for securing a cord to a limb of a person, wherein the strap is attachable to the cord and has an inner face and an opposite outer face, and is adapted to be fastened around the limb, and wherein the inner face of the strap is shaped to substantially correspond to the contour of a region of the limb to thereby inhibit the strap from rotation about the limb, when the strap is fastened around said region of the limb such that the inner face of the strap is pressed against said limb.
In a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided leash for securing a surf craft to a limb of a person, comprising:
a strap with an inner face and an opposite outer face, and being adapted to be fastened around the limb; and
a cord with a proximal end region attached to the strap and a distal end region for attachment to the surf craft;
wherein at least one protuberance for pressing against the limb to thereby inhibit the strap from rotation about the limb when the strap is fastened around said limb such that the inner face of the strap is pressed against the limb, is defined on the strap.
In another aspect of the invention there is provided strap for securing a cord to a limb of a person, wherein the strap has an inner face and an opposite outer face and is adapted to be fastened around the limb, and at least one raised protuberance for pressing against the limb to thereby inhibit the strap from rotation about the limb when the strap is fastened around said limb such that the inner face of the strap is pressed against the limb, is defined on the strap.
Be inhibiting the strap from rotating about the limb the possibility of the cord being caught or becoming entangled with the limb is also substantially reduced.
The strap may be made from one or more of a rubberised or plasticised material, neoprene, ethylenevinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene (PE), EVA-PE and polyurethane. The cord will typically be made from polyurethane although any suitable elastic material may be used.
The features and advantages of the invention will now be described in further detail below with reference to a number of embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.